Improved levee



ite-d .gratta aient imi l Lctters Patent No. 92,575, (lated July 13, 1869.

' I:manovra: :.Evnn.

The Schedule referred to these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it 'ma/y concern:

.Be it known that-I, ALEXANDER G. Bmwsnn, of the city of Frankfort, in the county of Franklin, in the State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Construction of Embankments and Levees, for the protection of lands, Ste., against the ovcriiow of streams-lakes, tide-waters, and other bodies of water; and I do hereby declarelthat the following is a full, clear, .andexact description thereof', reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,

rlhe nature of my invention consists iii placing an upright fence, made of posts planted deeply in the earth in the central portion of the embankment, and nailing upon them horizontal timbers or planks, closely fitted together, and then packing the earth ,firmly against such fence; and further, in having such posts extend any desired distance above. the crest of the levee, in order that planks may' be nailed upon them, and thus make a fence to enclose the land, andexclude or include horses, horned cattle, hogs,

To enable others skilled inthe art to make and Ause my invention, I will proceed to describe the same. i

ln'I the drawings- Fi re l re rcsents an end view of a levee in ier.

spective.;

Figure 2, a cross-section thereot; and

Figure 3, an elevation of the same.

On the line of the proposed levee, and near its 1ongitudinal centre, a ditch, B, should be dug at least tw`o feet deep, and wide enough to aiiord room forplanting posts and nailing upon them the planks, and'for packing iimnly a strong line-of earth on each side ofthe wooden structure; and in the centre of the ditch, posts E, oi' the desired length and size, and of durable wood, should be planted, in line and at such distances apart as will secure sulieicnt strength in the structure, on the one hand, and not result in a waste of timber and labor on-the other.

.lhen, upon the inner or water-side of the line of these posts, planks 1), of durable wood, should b e nailed, and closely tit-ted together, or thejoints between may vbe covered by battens ofplankjand to insure uniformity in the strength ot' the structure, the planks should l be arranged on the posts in such a manner thatan equal number oi' plank-ends should be fastened upon cach post, as shownin iig. 3. y This close boarding should extend at leastas high as th'e cresciJ oi",the levee.

Then, upon each side of the fence, earth, should; be thrown into the ditch and closely rammed, in order to hold the base of the ence firmly in position. But in localities where brick, o1' stones, or the trunks oftrees 'may be abundant and cheap, the wall or fence maybe made of any one or more of them. l

When such a back-bone or skeleton shall have been made, of whatever material composed, then the' earth is to be thrown up to the desired elevation, and such 'slopesgiven to the levee as may be desired, having reference to the character of the volume of water against which protection is sought.

Theextending of the posts .above the crest of the levee, to be used in the combination of a fence againstdomestic animals, is deemed an Vimportant :featurein this invention, asv a fence is necessaryY upon almost every levee. vFarin making such a fence, the posts are already almost immovably' implanted where they are'needed. The timbers'in the tops is the only itern of expense of the posts. And then they are greatly superior to posts planted on the crest of an ordinary levee, because of' the looseness of the earth of' which the tops of suoli levees are composed; for it is what is called made earth, that is to say, brought from elsewhere and thrown there, and such levees are. much liable to be injured, and crevasses formed in them, by many causes which would not affect levees made according to my invention.

the body of the excluded Water causes The weight' of the water lto percolate gradually through the whole vmass of era-1th and thus impair its cohesive power to such an extent that it will crumble and fall away on the' water-side, or be cut by cul'rent's and fall away in masses until a breech is formed through the whole levee.

In addition to. this cause of injury, musk-rats, craw- -ishes, and other borers, are constantly and secretly at work, boring thousands of channels, bywhich the water s find their way into and through the embankment, and thus originate crevasses when andwhere 'they may be least expected.4

It is obvious that a strong, close fence through the longitudinal centre of the levee, and reaching below the natural surface ofthe earth,I will go far to prevent such injuries; For if that portion of the levee next the water should become softened by percolation, opened by borers, and washed away by the current, still' the `other and outer portion, being protected bythe fence,

will kremain iirm and'iutact, and it andthe fence will resist the action of the water for a suiiicient'length of time for the repair ofthe levee. Even `if the whole of the earth on the water-side of the fence should wash4 away down to the natural surfaces, yet vthe fence5witl'1 the dry, solid bank of earth in its rear, would fora considerable time prevent a breach being made.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let'- ters Patent, is-

The described levee, consisting of an impenetrable `partition set in a trencl1,sucl i trench being filled and'.

the partition embanked by suitable material when the posts of the central core extend, above the embank# ment, and form the supports for afence upon the saine, allsubstantially as described.

Witnesses Jas. A. DAWSON, Riom). SHARP.

ALEXANDER j G. BRAWNER- 

